«Дар освобождения», курс 22 «Ретрит безграничной удачи», занятие 11

[Speaker 1]
We've reached the fourth big part of the hell realms, which is called NYID BRTZE BA'I GNYEL BAR, partial hell, or hell on earth. NYID BRTZE BA'I GNYEL BA'I SDUG BSNGAL BSAM PA NI So these are all meditations. And we'll be doing them in Diamond Mountain in October so that you have continuity.

NYAL BA DE NI MI YUL DANG RGYA TSUG DRAM SOGS SU YOD CING So you can find these hells in the lands of humans. And RGYA TSUG DRAM means, oftentimes people find them at the edge of an ocean. Then he tells some stories about people who saw these hells.

ZHIG PA NYID BRTZE BA'I GNYEL BA'I SDUG BSNGAL BSAM PA NI NYAL BA DE NI MI YUL DANG SNGON MTSONGS PA RGA' ZHIG GIS PHAGS PA'I RGYUN DUN TSOR RGYUN DUN TSOR RGYA TSUG LING DU LDAN DANG DE BRJUN PA NA SKABS ZHIG NAS MTSONGS PA GZHAN NA SNGON LA MTHIL TE So many centuries ago, some merchants left from India to go do some business like in Sri Lanka. And an Arya named Sanga Rakshita went with them. RGYEN DUN TSOR in Tibetan.

RGYA TSUG LING DU LDAN DANG DE He went with them to an island in the ocean. SKABS ZHIG NAS MTSONGS PA GZHAN NA SNGON LA MTHIL Then they got separated. The merchants went ahead and the monk was coming behind.

PHAGS PA NI RGYA TSUG DRAM DE RGANG GIS DRON PA'I TSUL LA GANG YID DU DBANG BA ZHIG NA RGYEN DUN SNGABS SKYES BSTAN DRANG When the Arya, this monk, reached the edge of the ocean, he saw a beautiful temple, and inside he saw 500 monks. SNYING RGUN DU SKYE SLONG RNAMS THAB CING SNYING RGOS YOD NAS SNGA BZHIN GYUR PA ZIG BZHIN At noon time, all the monks would fight with each other. Then in the afternoon, they would go back to being nice monks.

DE RGYUR PHRAD PA NA Then the Arya, he asked them, why is this happening here? SNGON RU GSUM GYI BSTAN PA LA RGYEN RLONG DE RNAMS KYI GDUG MTHOS SKABS MA BYAMS PA THOB TSUL BYAS PA'I BDE BU YIN ZER BA DANG So the monks told him, in the time of the last Buddha, the last Buddha on this earth was named Kashyapa. It means protector of light.

So during his time, during lunch time, those monks would argue with each other. And the karmic result is now in their new life, they are fighting with each other around noon time. GZHAN YANG TSIG PA DANG DGA' BA DANG BSTAN DANG THAR PA CHAGS MA PHYIR GYUR BYAS BA CHU BA LTA BU NYAL BA YANG SIGS NAS LAR DRIN PA'I Then that Arya went further down the beach, and he saw a wall, but it was a human being, shaped like a wall, looked like a wall.

And then he saw DGA' BA means pillar, and it was a human being that looks like a pillar. Then he saw THAR PA means a rope, and that also was a human being. And then he saw CHAGS MA means a broom, looks like a human being.

Then he saw a person with a ... what do you call it? Who looked like they got their waist tied with a short belt.

He saw many strange things on the ocean side. People ask me, is it possible to be born as a tree? Generally in Buddhism, we believe trees don't have the same kind of consciousness as animals.

But if you have a very heavy karma to be born in a hell on earth, you can look like a wall, or like a broom, or like other things. SHAG THUB LA ZHUGS PA NA Then when he came back from the trip, he asked our Buddha, Shakyamuni, DGA' BA LTA BU SOGS NGAG SBYOR CHOS SKABS ZHUGS PAR BZHIN What happened to these guys? Why were they born like this?

Then Pabongka Rinpoche says, I already covered that back when I taught you the preliminary practices, SBYOR CHOS. So at least one of you remembers. Dimly.

Dimly. He remembers dimly. So I'm going to tell you the story again.

In this way, this lam rim will take many years. So I'm going back to earlier, about halfway through the book, I'm going back. BHAG PA RGYEN NAMS SOGS LU YOD NAS TSOR PHABS NAS This monk also went to the land of the Nagas.

And when he came back, he was walking on the beach, and he saw a hell being shaped like a piece of rope. And he saw another hell being shaped like a pot. He saw another hell being shaped like a broom.

And one like a tun means where you grind the spices in pestle. And he saw one like a pillar. He saw another hell being like a wall.

And another one with this tight rope around his waist. YID DE DANG DE BDE BA LA MNYAM THAB PAR MED NGAG BDUN PAS Then they were all moaning in pain. And then he realized those are hell on earth.

Then he asked the Buddha, DE DANG LAS GANG GI RNAMS NYID YIN ZHES SANGS RGYAS LA PHYIR BA ZHUGS PA What karma did they do to be born like that? So I'm going to tell you the whole story, okay? BDAG PA DANG BYA MA LTA BUR There are hell beings who look like a rope and like a broom.

SNGON SANGS RGYAS OD GSUNGS KYIS BSTAN PA'I THUG RGAN SDUG GIS BYIN TZE BDAG PA DANG BYA MA GANG SAGS KYIS MA SNANG BAR BZHIN DU LONG BYAS PA'I RNAMS YIN DANG Back in the time of the previous Buddha named Kashyapa, they lived at that time, and they used the things of the Sangha without asking the Sangha. Like sound equipment or stuff like that. We're pretty good.

In the Sangha that I saw here and in America, people are careful about Sangha's things. But it's a special bad karma if you misuse the Sangha's things, or you use them without asking the Sangha. So they were using ropes and brooms that belonged to the Sangha, and they didn't ask the Sangha.

And they were born that way. The one who was born like a pot, DBANG ZHIG MI, RANG BZHIN MEN KUL BA NA, DGE SLONG RNAMS KYIS MI NYAN PAR MED PAS, DE CHOS NAS CHU BA BYAG PAS So there was a helper of the monks. He was making medicine in a pot.

And then one of the monks criticized him. So he purposely broke the pot. And he became born as a pot.

BDUN DANG PO NI, DGE TSUL DAM ZHAG PAR DGOS PA NA, DGE SLONG ZHIG GI DRU MAR GYI, ZIG MA SDUG ZHIG BYAS PA NA Then there was a baby monk, novice monk, DGE TSUL. And an older monk asked him to grind some oil. And the monk said to him, you know, I have another job right now.

But I'll do it, I just have to finish this job the Sangha gave me, and then I'll help you. DGE SLONG CHOS NAS The older monk got angry. GHO BSTOD LA REG TU RUNG BA KHYOD NI BRTAN DU BCUG NAS SDUG GNOD NAS If I could touch that pestle, if I had a big one, if I could touch it, I would like to grind you in it.

SDUG GNOD NAS DRU MAR GCIG ZIG MA LTA BU I will make the oil from you. NGAN MED KYI BDE BU And from that karma he became born as in a hell pestle, like a hell. I saw some translations and they missed one part here.

The older monk says, if I were allowed to touch a pestle, I would grind you. So in the real monk system, full monk is not allowed to touch kitchen things. DKA' BA DANG ZIG PA LTA BU NI RGAN DU NI TSUL LA GANG NA PHYIR RNAMS KYIS MA RUNG PAR BYAS PA'I BDE BU Then the one who was born as a pillar, and the one who was born as a wall, they were like running to the temple.

And their nose was running, and they wipe it on the wall and then they run into the temple. Okay, so don't do that. GCIG RGYUN GYI BDE BA LTA BU SKYES PA BZHIN DU MTHAR BA NAS The one who had a leather belt around very squeezed him, GZHEL LTA BA ZHIG GIS RGAN DU GYI STONG GO YOD DU GYI THOGS NAS BDUN DU GYI STONG GO'ER PHYI BA This was a monk who's called GZHEL LTA BA.

GZHEL LTA BA means the person in charge of the sangha's food and things. So, he's supposed to use the supplies in the correct time. But he took the supplies which are meant to be used in autumn, and he used them in the summer.

So, he was born as a pillar. He didn't have enough. DE NA RGAN DU GYI TSOGS SHING LTA BU NAS MA NANG BAR YOG SHING TZAM RONG BYED KYANG NI TSE BA'I MNYAL BA'I NGES PAR DU SKYES So, when you cook for the monks, every monk has to work in the kitchen.

I was a cook for eight years in the kitchen every day. I was a cook. My strategy is to burn everything, and then they let me go.

But I did it for eight. I burned things for eight years. We don't have gas.

We use fire. Firewood. You need to take one stick about this long for pushing the wood into the fire.

So, you just take a stick off a tree and you push it. After you push the fire once, that stick belongs to the sangha. Old, stupid, dirty stick.

Then Pabongka says, if you take that stick without permission, you will be born in a partial hell. Much less sangha's money or something like that. So, you have to be super careful about accounting for sangha money.

Don't be tempted to steal it. The karma is a thousand times worse. It's better to go rob a bank.

The karma is better. A little more dangerous, but the karma is lighter. ,RGYEN DU LA KHUR DAG PA NI, ,YANG NYID RANG, Okay, then there's a story about a famous water monster that washed up on the shore like a whale, but he could talk.

And someday we can read it. His story is very terrible, very sad, how he became this animal. Okay, now we're going back to ...

let me see. One part we covered already. Okay, now I have another story for you.

He's going to tell another story about hell on earth. ,GZHAN YANG SKYE MTSAMS MED, ,SNA BA LA RIN PO CHE RGYEN ZER GYI SDONG ZE, Can you find it, Adam? I skipped about two sentences or something.

You can look up G-S-E-R ZER or D-Z-E. Yeah, there you go. So there was once a person who was born with a gold earring in his ear.

And sometimes they make this earring from a coin. ,CHE BA RIS BA'I GNA CHAGS BTAG PA'I DE, ,SNA BA CHE BA RI, His name was ... In Sanskrit it's Shrona Kotikarna.

Shrona Kotikarna. Shrona Kotikarna. ,NO BU LEN DU CHE, So he was getting ready to go to Ceylon, Sri Lanka, to get some jewels.

When he was walking on the beach, he fell asleep on the sand. Sorry, I was studying this for a while. ,RTOG PA GZHAN GYI RJES SU LUS NAS, Then the other merchants went ahead.

,GNYIS SRED PA NA, And he woke up. ,LUNG TSUD KYI LAM GZUGS TE, This GZUGS, second GZUGS means to erase. So a big wind came up and erased the footprints of the other merchants.

,GAL TSA'I PONG PO YANG, ,DE'I PHYED PA'I CI CHUD TE, Then he had a burro. But he was hitting it too hard. And the burro was upset.

Like cutie on a bad morning. And we kept him up too late last night. Then he couldn't smell where did the other burros go.

And so the monk started to wander around. ,GANG PO GZHAN MED GANG LTA BU GCIG NA, He found suddenly a beautiful house like a palace. I found the whole story for you.

Let me tell you the whole story. It's from a very ancient text. So this is not in the Lam Rim.

I went and got it for you. This is the whole story. So here we go.

This is from the Vinaya Vastu. So I'll tell you the whole story and then we'll go back and hear the short part. ,DE SONGS PA DANG GCIG MTSAMS NA, ,GZHAN MED GANG GZHAN ZHIG MTHONG DE, Then he saw another palace.

,DE NA BU MED GSUNGS SANGS BA RDZAS PA LTA NA DUG PA, And in front of the palace there was a beautiful woman. ,BUNG RGYEN DANG MA CHAG GDUG KHOR DANG, She had beautiful jewels on and beautiful earrings. ,CHUG PA means, what do you call?

,'OD DE KOLONG, The women put it on to smell good. ,KOLONG ,'OD DE KOLONG That's how I smell. Okay.

Okay, my French sounds like Chinese, I don't know. ,PHRAD MA NA TSOG GI BSKYED PA, And many flower garlands. ,ZHIG SDUG PA DE PHYIR GANG PA ZHI LA, And she was sitting on a throne.

And the throne had four... covered with jewels and it had four legs. And on each leg, there was a...

You saw Lord of the Rings? That guy, Gollum? Gollum?

Yeah, he's like a kind of... What do you call him? It's kind of like a monster?

We call it a yidak, a preta, kind of a preta. Like a... Yeah.

They are like, I don't know, small crazy people. And they were chained to the four legs of the chair. And she saw the monk coming from far away.

And she saw the monk. The monk's other name is...hang on. Sorry, I want to get his name correct.

Nakshatra. Nakshatra. Long story.

Anyway, where is that? And his other name is Coin in the Ear, because he was born with a coin in his ear. DBONGS PA LEGS SO DBONGS PA LEGS SO And DBONGS PA, young one.

Old verb is DBONGS PA, new verb... Yeah, I'm happy you came. Welcome, welcome.

Welcome. LEGS SO, LEGS SO MI KHON MA MI BRJE STAM Would you like something to drink? Would you like something to eat?

DE BSAM PA The monk thought to himself, DON MI SA BAR LHA MO Definitely this lady is an angel. LUS MO Or maybe a female Naga, like a dragon. Inside, dragon.

Outside, looks like beautiful woman. Or or some kind of a spirit. DE MED PA BDAG KHO MO BDAG BRAS SO Yeah, I could use something to drink.

I could use something to eat. Thank you. He thought it would be good luck if he took something from her.

Let me make sure. I want to check something. Yeah, okay.

I'm going to call him Lakshatra. Then he thought, I should take it. DE DE MTHUN NAS SEMS PHYIN TE Then the lady washed and handed him some nice food.

Then she said to the monk, if these four, they look like people mixed with dog or something. Then she said, if they try to get some food from you, don't give it to them. Okay?

She warned him. You know what he's going to do. He's a monk.

SEMS CAN DE RNAMS KYIS LA BDAG GIS BYA'O SNGON TSUL DU BYA'O They shouldn't eat because they must experience their own karma and you should not stop it. GSHEL MA'I GANG GI SNANG DU ZHUGS TE And she left and she went inside the palace. Then of course, DE BDAG GIS BLANG BAR TZAM STE These four spirits start to ask the monk, give me a little bit.

GRO BZHIN GYAS He felt bad for them. He got compassion. RGYUD KYIS BDAG CAGS BRTAD PAS NYAMS PA LA DRIN GCIG Since you are hungry, I will give you something.

DE GCIG LA GANG GCIG BYIN PA DANG So he tried to feed the first one. And when the food reached his mouth, it became... we call it CHAGS.

It's the skin of the wheat which you take off. Just the skin which you take off of the wheat and then you eat it. It looks like butterfly wings or something.

Can't use it. Can't eat it. It became like paper.

Then he tried to feed the second one. NYAMS GCIG LA GANG GCIG BYIN PA Gave him a piece of food and it became a piece of iron when it reached his mouth. He couldn't eat it.

NYAMS GCIG LA GANG GCIG BYIN PA Then the third one, he tried to give something to eat. Something happened. It reached for the food and it tried to eat the food.

He started to eat his own hand. He was bleeding. He confused the food and his hand.

He tried to give to the fourth one and the food became pus and blood. DE PHYI MTSOR NAS BYUNG STE MTHO BZHIN SKYES SKYES LA KHO MO MA RDO GAM Then they CI PHYIR DI DAG LA CING CI KHO MO NING RJE LAS GCOD KYI NING RJE LHA GAM She came out and she said, I told you not to feed them. I told you not to try to feed them.

Do you think you love them less than I do? I say, do you think you love them more than I do? And then he said, well, what connection do you have with these four monsters?

DE MED PA And the beautiful woman said, DE NI KHO MO KHYIM BTAB YIN DE NI BU YIN DE NI SNAR MA YIN DE NI KHO MO BRAL MO YIN This first one was my husband. This second one was my son. This third one was my son's wife.

This fourth one was my servant. KHYAD CHAGS GSOS DAG YIN LAS GANG GI BDER SKYES SBYOR BZHIN GYI TZAM PA LING PAS MI NAM NI YI BYAS PA RGA' BAR YI MI BYAS SA Then she said, why were they born like this? What happened to them?

She said, you're from the human world and if I tell you, you won't believe me anyway. ZHIN PO BDAG GIS LUN TSUL DU MTHONG BA NA JI LTAR YI BYAS PA He said, I can see them. Why shouldn't I believe what you say?

Then she answered MTHO BZHIN GYI LAS KHO MO GNAS PA SHES BYA BA'I MTHONG GI So I used to live in a place called, I think the Sanskrit is Vassana. Vassa. She lived in a place called Vassa in her past life.

She was a Brahmin, high Hindu. Then there was a big holiday and I was preparing food. The Arya named Katyayana came.

Who's Katyayana? You are. I don't think so.

Is he? Anyway, Katyayana was one of the five first disciples of the Buddha. So Buddha, first time he taught, he taught five monks.

And the first time he taught, one of them saw emptiness directly. Then he repeated it three times. I think all of them, I don't remember.

Some of them saw emptiness directly. So this woman says, in my past life, I saw Katyayana coming to us for food, to help us. RIM GYI KHO MO KHYIM DU CHEN PO And then he reached my family's house.

KHO MO DE DGOS TSE ZHING THUGS DANG BA MTHONG NGO I saw his spiritual beauty. MTHONG NAS KYANG KHO MO NGON And then I felt faith in him. GSOS NYON PO DE So I offered him some food.

KHO MO BLO SKYES PA DE LA KHYIM THAB RJES SU YANG BA BU DU BCUG NA Then I ran to my husband and I said, oh, the most wonderful thing happened today. Katyayana came to our house and I offered him some food. So you should be happy.

RJES ZER BPAG PA KATYAYANA CHEN PO LA KHO MO'I GSOS NYON PON GYIS RJES SU YANG BA BU BCUG She said, let's celebrate. DE PHYIR NAS MA SPA The husband got angry. RJE SRID GRAM ZAD RNAM LA MA BU Why didn't you offer the food to some of our Hindu Brahmin priests?

Why do you offer the food to Buddhists? DGE SBYONG SGO REG PA DE LA GSOS RNAMS PHOD BYIN RNAMS SHES DE MI GSOD PA SKYES NAS DGE SBYONG SGO REG DE PHYIR PHUGS MA MED GAM I think it would have been better... Say SGO REG.

SGO REG In English we say Baldi. Baldi. Like a guy who shaves their head.

Why do you give food to these Baldis? It's an insult. It's an ancient insult for a Buddhist monk.

If that guy comes back again, I will take some chaff. It's like, when you have wheat, before you can eat it, you have to take off the skin. You have to grind off the skin.

Like rice also, on the skin. Then that skin is like paper. If that Baldi comes back to our house, I'm going to stuff his mouth with paper.

This stuff. So he became the first spirit. Chained to her chair.

KHO MO LO SKYE BA KHYIM THAB GYIS RJES TE RING BA MA BUL GYI RE ZHIG BU BYAS SU YID RANG BA BU TSUD CHUGS RNAMS RGYAS PA'I PHYIR GA'UR KHYAD PA'I RGYUD ROL So she thought, well, my husband wasn't so happy, but I will tell my son about it. And definitely he will be happy. BU BHAG PA KHYAD NA CHEN PO LA KHO MO'I GSUNG YONG BU SKYES RJES SU YI DE BA'ANG BU GCIG DE YANG PHRAD DE MED PAR She went to her son and said, this is so cool, I had a chance to give some food to Khyadana today.

GCI SRAM SRAD RNAMS LA MA BYIN PA RJES GYUR GYI RGYAS SBYONG SGO REG He got angry. SGO REG SON NAMS KYI PHYIR Why do you give him the best part of the food? And he said, you should give that monk a chunk of steel to eat.

So he became the second spirit. LAS TE THRO BZHIN GYIS RGYU RGA LA BAB PA'I NUS MO NA Then the woman continued her story on that same holiday. KHO MO'I RNAMS LA DE NA DE YANG GZIGS TSOD PA TSOD PA DAG GNYIS TSOD PA NGAN PAR DAG KHO MO'I RNAMS LA BYIN NO So I gave NYAN DE DAG LA KHYAD CHAGS BLO NYE SEMS They were cooking nice food for a holiday.

And her daughter-in-law was there. Son's wife. KHO MO'I NYAN DE DAG LA KHYAD CHAGS BLO NYE SEMS DI LTA BU LA YANG SRID Then the daughter-in-law gave the best food to other people and disrespected the mother-in-law.

KHYAD CHAGS BLO NYE SEMS LTA BU LA YANG SRID CES MO Why don't you give me some good food? she said to the daughter. And the daughter answered her and said, If you want something better, eat your own arm.

And the karma from that, she was born as this kind of spirit. Then on another holiday she met her servant maid and the maid ate the best part of the holiday food and gave the worst part to the to the mother, the wife. And then when she asked the maid, why did you do that?

She said, you are lucky I didn't give you a glass of blood and pus. Let's see. Then she told him a lot of other stories.

There's a little bit more, but it's okay. Let's go back to the text. GANG POR ZHES MED GANG GANG POR So here's the way that Pabongka Rinpoche shortened the story.

This monk came to a place that looked like a palace. MI ZHIG LA LHA MO ZHIG KHOR NAS TSE MO'I LHA'I BDE'I KHYAD DRA BA NYONG NYID MO'I CHAGS SEMS MED PAR GANG POR GYUR CING He met a man who at night he was together with four beautiful women. NYID MO'I CHAGS SEMS MED PAR GANG POR GYUR And in the daytime he was pushed into a metal house burning.

And those four beautiful women in the daytime would become like German Shepherds, big bad dogs, and they will eat pieces out of his body. And then when the sun went down, again he would be surrounded by these four beautiful women. So he asked the man, how did this happen?

So I was also in my previous life, I was in that same village called the name is Vasava, Vasava. And I was a butcher. KATHYA YANA'I DKA' THAR TSE MO'I SOGS SPYOD MI BYAS PA'I DANG PA LA'ANG And one day I met Kathya Yana.

And he asked me to give up killing animals. And I told him, I can't. Then Kathya Yana said, okay, let's make a deal.

After the sun goes down, you stop killing animals. Then he agreed. NYID MO'I DE LAS MA NUS PAR But during the day he couldn't stop and he used to kill animals.

And he explained, that's why I was born like this. Then in that same village, Vasava, he asked who was that? Hang on.

Yeah, he asked that monk, could you go back to my village and my son still lives there. After I died, he became the butcher in that village. And ask him, please stop killing animals.

Tell him my story. Ask my son to give offerings to monks and dedicate the karma to me so I don't have to live like this. Then the monk told the spirit, you want me to go to your son and tell your son to give the monks money?

Dedicate the karma to you? He said, yeah. He said, he'll never believe me.

Then the spirit was like, okay, you tell my son something. Where we keep the tools for cutting, where we keep all our butcher knives. If he looks under that table and he digs down, he will find a pot full of gold coins.

If you tell him that, he'll believe you and he'll make more money. So it happened like that. Then he went further down the beach.

GANG SANG ZHIG TU SKYES PA BU MED GZUGS SA BA NYID DGANG GUR TSE ZHING DES KYIS LA SPYOD PA'I PHYING YOD PA LA Then he saw a man and a woman with very beautiful bodies and they spent the whole day enjoying themselves together. But then at night they would suffer. The woman became a snake and she would eat the man from the top of his head down.

So it's the opposite of the other one. The bad thing happened at night and the good thing happened at day. Then the monk asked these two people, why are you like this?

We lived in a village called Vasana, same village, Vasana. I was a brahman, a high priest. PHYI BA BYAS PA means I cheated on my wife.

KATHYA YANA MED NYID MO PHYI BA MI BYED PA'I SDOM PA And KATHYA YANA came to me and he said, you shouldn't cheat on your wife. Then he said, I can't stop. Then KATHYA YANA made a deal.

What was the deal? Yeah, just during the day don't cheat on your wife. At night you can cheat on your wife.

So he said, okay, I'll do that. And the karma of that after he was reborn into a hell on earth, and during the day he can enjoy with this beautiful woman. And at night she's a snake and she's eating him.

GNAS PA'I GRONG NA BDAG GIS BU ZHIG YOD Then the man asked the monk, my son is still alive in that village. Then can you ask him to give money to the monks and dedicate it to me? And he said, your son will never believe me.

Then he said, tell him to clear out the cooking fire in the kitchen and dig down there and he will find a vase filled with gold. Then he'll be happy to do it. Then the monk kept walking down the beach and SPYI ZHIG GI GANG PA ZHIR YI DAG RE BDAG PA He saw a throne with four legs and there was a spirit chained to each leg.

And he asked him, what happened? RDZIN DE BA'I NYAL BA NYID ZER BA'I YOD PA YIN And then the lama told us the story. But he doesn't tell the story.

So I told you the story.

[Speaker 2]
Okay?

[Speaker 1]
That section is finished. Okay, now let's skip to there. That's a long story.

I think we'll stop there. He's going to talk about hells in the human places. We'll talk about it.

Okay? So we have about 15 minutes if anybody has some questions. Thank you Geshe-la for your teachings.

Until recently I was convinced that I wanted to donate my organs if something happened to me. But now understanding the importance of the time of death, I have doubts. Yeah, good question.

So my lama never wanted to answer my questions. But sometimes I will catch him. So one time I was on a flight to India with him, and I asked him all these questions that you just asked me.

And I have it here. His answer. He said, I asked him, is it appropriate for a Buddhist to have their organs donated after death?

And he said, very good. But you shouldn't do it for money. Just do it for compassion of other people.

So he said, okay. I think if your motivation is very pure, and they're cutting out your organs, it's a good thing. Okay?

No problem. If you want this paper, I wrote it in 1997. I can give it to Chintu.

If anybody wants it, you can ask her. I asked him a lot of questions about death. It was a 20 hour flight.

Any other questions? Thank you Geshe-la. So I have four questions, but I have to choose one.

So let's say a person meets, either a man or a woman meets another person. And immediately when they see them, they feel like, I met my angel, my lama. And they want to be with them.

But this person has a different person who he sees as his lama or his angel. And probably they are both angels. So what do this person should do?

Okay, good question. Especially if you're already married. If you're married or the other person is married.

It happens. People after 10 years, 20 years, they say, oh, I met my soul mate. And it's not the woman I married.

People say this. So here's what happens. If you take away someone else's partner, it's possible you'll be happy for a short time.

Because of old karma. And then you will have something terrible will happen. You will lose them.

They will cheat on you. And you will never find another partner. Then if you keep your vows to your wife or your husband, so generally marriage promises not just a small thing.

You go to a wedding, you have a big ceremony. Nick and Erin had 100 people there. In front of a hundred people, and in front of God or Buddha, you promise you will stay with this person.

If you break that vow, without the permission of the other person. So if you both decide to get divorced because you're unhappy, that's okay. But if one person wants you to stay, but you found your soul mate, then if you break your vow to that person, there will be a disaster.

And I've seen it. I've even seen a case where the husband died. The soul mate died.

So you have to be careful. Now, if you decide to keep your vow, I'm in love with this new guy. He's super beautiful, and I believe he's my soul mate.

But, I took a vow, and I have to keep the vow. If you keep the vow, within a few years, the woman you married in the first place will become better soul mate than the other one. Or something will happen.

They will ask you to ... they want to leave. Something like that.

Then it's okay to leave. And the new soul mate which you find, or which comes to you this way, they will stay with you forever, and they will be beautiful soul mate. So, in this system, keep your vow.

And don't worry, oh, I'm not getting along with my wife. I found my soul mate. If you want the soul mate, keep the vow to your wife.

Then you will have a better soul mate. And she will stay with you. Probably it will be your original wife.

Karma will change. So, if you keep your vow, that first partner will become like an angel for you. If you break your vow, it'll be a mess for the rest of your life.

You will lose your soul mate, and you will lose any hope to find a soul mate in the future. So, if you want a beautiful soul mate, keep your vow, and it will come. If you don't want a beautiful soul mate, break your vow and stay with the temporary soul mate for a few weeks or months.

And then the rest of your life you will be lonely. And I've seen it. Among my students I've seen it.

Okay? But either way, you're going to get your soul mate. See, I mean, if you keep your vow, you will get a beautiful soul mate.

And I saw this many times. I saw terrible things happen to the people who broke their vows. Okay.

And I saw beautiful things happen to the people who kept their vows. Okay. One more question.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you, Khenpo. You're welcome. Thank you.

What you have taught me is the five spiritual paths which have had a great impact on me. But I also have some doubts about this path.

[Speaker 1]
Oh, you're trying to translate. No, she has to translate. Oh, I'm sorry.

Could you repeat? Could you?

[Speaker 2]
She has questions about the first path. The first path?

[Speaker 1]
First path, right? Yeah, first path.

[Speaker 2]
Stanley and I have discussed about the subject of emptiness and the emptiness of the object. I feel like the emptiness of the subject is more difficult to understand. But when Geshe-la teaches the emptiness, you teach the emptiness of the object first.

I feel that if we have experienced the emptiness of the subject, then we will have the very different feeling. If we can experience the emptiness of the subject, subject, then we will have a very deep understanding and a very deep feeling.

[Speaker 1]
She says that if you perceive the emptiness of the subject, you will have a very deep understanding of the object, right?

[Speaker 2]
But for the emptiness of the object, it's just an intellectual understanding. Well, it's not really to apply it or experience it. So my question is, our understanding of the emptiness of the object, it's not really understanding because we do not experience it, but our understanding for the emptiness of the subject, it's a real understanding because we experience it.

Is it right?

[Speaker 1]
Okay. Good question. No.

I'll show you a cool thing, and it took me a couple of years to understand it. So I'll ask you a question. Look at this pen.

Is it part of Vivian? You can say no. It's outside of Vivian.

Vivian is here, and that pen is separate. Now, listen to the thoughts in your mind. Like my thoughts are saying, maybe I can have dinner soon.

You are listening, and those thoughts are coming out of seeds in your mind. Vivian is listening to those thoughts. Are those thoughts part of Vivian?

Yeah. Why are the thoughts more part of Vivian than the pen? Okay, and that's difficult to understand.

But I'll tell you, there's five heaps in the shin jin. In heart sutra. BU BUS ZOS ZOS ZOS YI BU ZHOG BU ZHIG BU ZHIG BU ZHOG BU YI Something like that.

The first one is called the heap of form. Then some people think it means your body, because these are the five parts of a human being. Your body, your feeling, your discrimination, all the other parts of Vivian, and Vivian's mind.

These are the five traditional parts of Vivian from the shin jin, the heart sutra. The first one, some people think it's only my body. But the higher school says, the first heap, the first part of you, includes all the things you see, and all the things you hear, and smell, taste, feel.

These are all part of you. So in that idea, this pen is part of Vivian. So it's the same as Vivian's thoughts.

So this pen is not separate from you. And the thoughts you hear are separate from you. Okay, got it?

So the pen, and the thoughts you hear in your own mind, they are equally separate from Vivian. So where is Vivian? You see, Vivian is listening to thoughts.

Vivian is looking at the pen. Then we feel the pen is outside Michael, but the thoughts are inside Michael. And that's a mistake.

If you say the thoughts are inside Michael, then Michael must be inside Michael listening to the thoughts. Then the thoughts become like the pen, separate from Vivian. So be careful.

The pen is not more separate from you than your own thoughts. Okay? But outside things are easier to understand the emptiness.

And then the emptiness of your own thoughts is more difficult to understand. But in one way, they are the same. They are both coming from your seeds.

So if you understand correctly about a pen, it's easy to understand correctly about Vivian. And if you want to stop the karma which will take you to those hell realms, permanently, you just have to understand the pen 100% and your own thoughts 50%. That's enough.

On the third level of the second path. Okay? So you have a feeling that from what you said, you feel that if you understand where the thoughts in your own mind are coming from, that's a more personal experience than looking at a pen.

But it's not. The pen is part of Vivian. And your thoughts are part of Vivian.

And really one is not more personal than the other. Okay. Thank you.